The present invention relates to shredding appliances for shredding vegetables or other food articles.
Many types of multi-purpose food processor appliances include shredding members which are selectively usable for shredding vegetables and the like. Generally speaking, such shredding members are in the form of discs introducible into the appliance to adapt the appliance for shredding vegetables or other food articles. However, there are many known appliances, such as juicer or grinder appliances described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,761,993 and 6,397,736 which do not include a shredding operation. Including such an operation would substantially enhance the usefulness of such appliances. In addition, efforts are continuously being made to simplify the construction or improve the performance of shredding appliances, both when the shredding members are embodied in multi-purpose food-processing appliances, as well as in stand-alone shredding appliances.
An object of the present invention is to provide a shredding appliance having improvements in one or more the above respects.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shredding appliance for shredding vegetables or other food articles, comprising: a shredding appliance for shredding vegetables or other food articles, comprising: a housing having an inlet for introducing the food articles to be shredded, and an outlet for outletting the shredded food articles; a rotatable shredding member of hollow construction; an electrical motor for rotating the hollow shredding member; and a transmission coupling said electrical motor to the hollow shredding member; the hollow shredding member having an outer surface aligned with the inlet and formed with shredding elements bordering openings for shredding the inletted food articles and for feeding the shredded food articles into the interior of the hollow shredding member; one end of the hollow shredding member being open and aligned with the outlet for outletting the shredded food article.
In the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the shredding member is of conical configuration, being of large diameter at its open end aligned with the outlet. The opposite end of the conical shredding member, of smaller diarneter, is coupled to the transmission to the electrical motor.
According to one preferred embodiment described below, the housing comprises a base including the electrical motor, a top cover including the inlet and defining, with the base, a compartment for receiving the hollow shredding member, and a locking bar pivotally mounted to the base and engageable with the top cover for locking the two together. Such an arrangement enables the shredding compartment to be conveniently opened, e.g. for cleaning the shredding member, for replacing it with another shredding member, etc.
In a second described preferred embodiment, the housing comprises an upper section including the inlet, the outlet, and the shredding member; a lower section including the electrical motor and transmission coupling the electrical motor to the shredding member; and a base for supporting the appliance on a flat horizontal surface. In the described preferred embodiment, the upper section is of a T-configuration having a vertically-extending portion including the inlet, a first horizontally-extending portion at one side and including the outlet and the shredding member, and a second horizontally-extending portion at the opposite side attachable to the lower section of the housing.
Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description below.